Headmaster says it may be time for a voucher system

The criticism was made by Michael James, chairman of the Society of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Independent Schools, one of the organisations representing the independent sector.

Mr James, principal of Rydal Penrhos School in Colwyn Bay, north Wales, said the government should pay part of the fees so more working class children of differing academic abilities could go private.

He said this was increasingly common in other countries, such as Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.

'Illusion'

While in opposition, Tony Blair decided to send his two oldest sons across London to the successful London Oratory School - shunning underperforming schools in Islington, where they lived.

Another member of the Shadow Cabinet also criticised by Mr James - Harriet Harman - sent her son to a grammar school outside the borough where they lived.

In a speech to his society's annual meeting, Mr James said: "Parental choice is an illusion for those without adequate financial means."

He agreed with another independent head teacher, Anthony Seldon, who recently criticised as hypocrites parents who moved into the catchment areas of the better state schools then tried to claim the moral high ground by saying they supported state education.

"Under the old grammar schools system, selection was at least through academic ability and not as now, by the ownership of property," Mr James said.

'Repulsive'

"This issue is often portrayed as some kind of latter day class war.

"I find it quite repulsive to listen to public school toffs like Tony Blair and Harriet Harman speaking about educational opportunity when they have manipulated the system.

"Some of us here come from genuinely working class backgrounds. We are people for whom education really was a life-changing experience.

"We were lucky because we were of high academic aptitude and the mechanism then existed to give us social mobility.

"Under the present system, no child in the road I grew up can have the same chance."

And he said that "perhaps the voucher is an idea whose time has come".

In a typical voucher scheme, parents can use the value of their child's state education at whichever school they choose, state or private.

He said most independent schools did not select their pupils by academic ability - many of them were in receipt of special needs support.

"We must change the public perception. The greatest benefit provided by the sector is the successes of children of average and below average ability.

"Let them be brought into this debate."